Ammunition box



May 9, 1939. w. RETHEL AMMUNITION Box Filed Dec. 6. 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l 7 W. r 5 wagierflik m FL QM flziomqgz.

May 9, 1939. w. RETHEL. 2,157,306

' AMMUNITION Box Filed Dec. 6, v19:57 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 9, 1939 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE AMMUNITION BOX 'Walter Rethel, Brandenburg .(Havel), Germany, assignor to Arado Flugzeugwerke Gesellschalt mit beschriinkter Haftung, Brandenburg (Havel), Germany, a German company Application December 6, 1937, Serial No. 178,431

In Germany May 27, 1936 3 Claims. (01., 206-3) The invention relates to ammunition boxes for use in aircraft wings which is intended mainly usual arrangement of wing stiffening. In addi-' tion it is difllcult satisfactorily to close by a suitable. covering means such a. large opening after insertion of the munition container.

The invention has for its object the production of an ammunition holder of the kind mentioned which avoids the disadvantage regarding the construction of the wing and permitseasy and rapid introduction into and removal from the wing of the munition holder.

The ammunition holder in accordance with the invention consists essentially of several intermediate members providing a bottom and two 5 longitudinal side walls and of two end members presenting a bottom, two longitudinal side walls and'an end wall. The bottoms of the said individual box members being connected in series and pivotally connected together at their adjacent edges by hinges so that the individualbox members can turn about the said edges.

In accordance with the invention moreover the longitudinal sidegwalls ofthe individual box members. with the exception-of one of the end members are provided with extensions projecting beyond the bottom of the individual member in the longitudinal direction, and embracing the longitudinal side walls of the adjacent individual member at one end which 'extensionson turning the individual members about the hinges so move in relation to. the embraced longitudinal side walls that with the-bottom surfaces of the ammunition box arranged in an arcuate curve in the longitudinal direction, the side walls are 445 always closed without gaps.

Suitably a. projection is provided on the intermediate members in the upper comers of each of the longitudinal side walls adjacent the side wall provided withan extension and'on one of 50 the end membersadjacent the said end wall of 7 the neighbouring intermediate member. Moreover two projections are provided on each of the said extensions of the longitudinal side walls for co-operation'with the first mentioned pro- ,jectionon the neighbouring individual member in the straight and in the curved position of the munition box. V The ammunition holder in consequence of its formation in accordance with the invention can be introduced into the. wing and withdrawn'from 5 the wing through an opening which need be only slightly greater than the cross section of the same at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the ammunition holder. It is thus not necessary to provide in the wing a particularly 10 large openingfor introducing the ammunition box'corresponding say to the plan of the box.

' In fact a small opening which can be easily and" reliably closed after insertion of the container is suflicient.- Moreover it is not necessary to ar- 18 range the distance apart of the ribs at the posi- J tion in question to suit the length of the container and consequently to provide additional ribs for example atright. angles to these ribs in order to obtain the necessary stiffness. In 20 they invention the-normal rib arrangement can be retained as the individual members of the ammunition box are comparatively short and therefore in' every position can be passed between tworibs arranged at the usual distance apart. 26 The ammunition box in accordance with the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shows a general arrangement of an aeroplane in plan with an ammunition box and machine 30 gun and guide for the cartridge belt in- 'the wings indicated by dotted lines Fig. 2 is a front view of the aircraft.- Fig. 3 is a cross section through a wing in perspective-at the opening forthe passage of the ammunition box preferably in 85 the lower wing covering or skin between two ribs showing the ammunition box partly inserted. Fig. 4 shows two separate parts of the ammunition box namely an end partand an associated intermediate part in perspective and to enlarged 401 scale. Fig. 5 shows by way of example an ammunition boxconsisting of five individual members, in the extended straight position-in side view in a wing part which is indicated diagrammaticallywit'h the, ribs omitted, the ammunition box'partly inserted through the opening in the lower skin being indicated in dot and dash lines.

Fig. -6 shows the extended ammunition box in plan. Fig. "A shows the ammunition box with inserted cartridge belt and belt guide, the machine gun and belt winding drum in apart of 1 the wing in side view and diagrammatically.

Fig. 8 shows in plan the parts shown in Fig. '1 also diagrammatically. 1 In the drawings P indicates the fuselage of the aircraft and T the wings in' which the machine gun indicated at M and shown diagrammatically is arranged parallel to the ams of the aircraft. G is the cartridge belt and F the supply and delivery passages forthe belt G to and from the machine gun M. The empty belt- G is wound at R on a drum. L is a guide plate paratively small opening 0. Through this opening which can be closed, the ammunition box B, in which as shown in Fig. 7 the cartridge belt can be piled in zig-zag layers, can be inserte in the wing T.

To insert the ammunition box in and remove it from the wing T in accordance with the in-.

vention only one opening is'required in the covering of the wing which opening need not be much greater than the cross section through the box B, any variation of the usual rib construction as also of the distance apart of the ribs being thus avoided (see Fig. 3). In order to attain this object the ammunition box B in accordance with the invention is so formed that it consists of individual members which form a communicating pile chamber for the cartridge belt and the bottoms of which both in the empty and in the filled condition can be arranged in an arc in relation to one another (see the dotted position of the box B in Fig. by way of example). Naturally the box B may also be curved in the opposite direction if the box B is to be introduced into the wing T and withdrawn through an opening in the upper skin.

In detail, the ammunition box B consists of several individual members having a bottom E and two longitudinal side walls S and of two end members providing a bottom surface, two longitudinal side walls and an end wall K. The bottom E of the separate box members are pivotally connected with one another at their adjacent edges by hinges 'D with hinge pins D (Fig. 4) so that the individual box members can turn about the said edges and in consequence the whole of the box B can be arranged in a curve as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5.

The longitudinal side walls of the individual box members have with the exception of the one end member extensions C which project beyond the bottom E of the individual member in the longitudinal direction and laterally embrace the side walls of the neighbouring individual member. The extensions C are preferably arranged as'triangular cheeks and move on the turning of the individual members of the box 13 about the hinges D in relation to the embraced longitudinal side walls in such manner that even with the whole bottom surface of the box B curved or bent the entire side walls S are closed without gaps (see the dotted line illustration of Fig. 5). The extensions .C are bent outwardly for the purpose of engaging neighbouring side walls as shown in Fig. 6.

The trlangularcheeks C have for example at their upper edge a portion removed so that two projections or lugs N are formed. In lieu of removing these portions as shown in the drawings corresponding slots may be provided in the cheeks C.

aiaasoe The projections N each cooperate with a projection A which is provided on the neighbouring individual box member near the upper corner of the longitudinal side walls S on the exterior adjacent the side edges provided with an extension C on the intermediate members of the box B. Moreover a projection A is also provided on the side walls of'the one end member K adjacent the neighbouring side wall. In the extended position of the ammunition box B the projections A bear against the projections N on the side wall S as shown in Fig. 5 on the extended box B. Then the box B can be held at the end walls K, the extended position of the box being ensured by the projections A and N. In similar manner the desired extent of curvature of the individual boxes B (for example the dot and dash position of the box B in Fig. 5) is ensured by the stops A and N, the outer lugs N of the extensions or those furthest from the side walls S bearing in this instance against the projections A.

I claim:-- a

1. An ammunition box for use in aircraft wings for holding a machine gun cartridge belt in a zigzag pile, said box comprising a plurality or boxlike members each having a bottom and two longitudinal side walls and two end members each having a bottom, two longitudinal side walls and an end Wall, the bottoms of the said individual members being connected in series and hinged to one another in such manner that the individual box members can turn about the said edges, the longitudinal side walls of the individual box members with the exception of one of the said end members being provided with extensions projecting beyond the bottoms of the individual members in the longitudinal direction and laterally embracing the longitudinal side wall of the neighbouring individual box member at one end, said extensions on rotation of the individual members about the hinges being so disposed in relation to the embraced longitudinal side walls that with the bottom of the ammunition box curved to arcuate form in the iongitudinal direction the side walls are closed without gaps. v

2. An ammunition box as claimed in claim 1 further characterised by this that a projection is provided in the upper corner of each longitudinal side wall of the individual box members say in the plane of the hinge and that the extension of each side wall has two projections which co-operate with the first mentioned projection in such manner that each individual box is held both in the straight extended position as also in a definite maximum curved position.

3. An ammunition box for holding machine gun cartridge belts in a zigzag pile in the wings of an aircraft, said box being inserted into said wing through a relatively small opening in the surface thereof, and consisting of two end sections and a plurality of intermediate sections, each of said end sections having a bottom, two longitudinal side walls, and one outer end wall, said intermediate sections having a bottom and two side walls, said members being flexibly connected in end to end relationship by" means of hinges whereby to form a complete box having four side walls and a bottom and whereby said box may be fed into said wing through said open- WALTER Rm. 

